I'm about 1 1/2 years out from buying a TH for a combination of using it to 1) hit some off road sites and 2) general travel to visit the United States. Most of my travels will be 2-4 weeks solo with the wife on a few trips. She is not really into the RV'ing lifestyle.My off road toy will be a Honda Rincon (7 Ft) or Can AM Maverick (11 Ft) and maybe a KTM Enduro bike.My intentions all along have been to keep the TH foot print to a Min so I'm not always worried about where I'm going to park or dragging 38 Ft plus **** behind me.I have been looking hard at the Sundowner TH market and have come to the conclusion that to have what I want (or I think what I want) this will be a special order TH.I'm thinking a 10 FT living quarters package (10' floor + 8'bed over gooseneck) with a 12 Ft garage. This still puts me at 30 Ft overall but I don't see how I can do anything any smaller and still keep the forward livings quarters I want.Anyway, guess what I'm asking is when you guys and gals go out for your "off roading" trips do you find it difficult finding off road type RV sites that fit your rig? ThanksDennis

I can't imagine I'd be able to tell much difference between my 35' 5er and a 30' bumper pull. You're going to be pulling 8-12k pounds either way. I focus on comfort.

twodownzero wrote:I can't imagine I'd be able to tell much difference between my 35' 5er and a 30' bumper pull. You're going to be pulling 8-12k pounds either way. I focus on comfort.Very true I'm sure. A similar ATC bumper pull with a forward bed and 11' 6" garage comes in at 31' at the hitch.I did run across a Sundowner 1786GM with 16' garage at 34' total. Hard part for me is there is not a Sundowner dealer within reasonable driving distance from me to go put my hands on one.

I'm thinking a 10 FT living quarters package (10' floor + 8'bed over gooseneck) with a 12 Ft garage. This still puts me at 30 Ft overall but I don't see how I can do anything any smaller and still keep the forward livings quarters I want.I would look at horse trailers. They come gooseneck, stout for off road use, front living quarters, and ten or so feet of floor toy carrying area is no issue. They are made so much better than most RV's, no rubber roof, no filon sides to delam, and stout axles and tires.

Dennis58 wrote:I'm about 1 1/2 years out from buying a TH for a combination of using it to 1) hit some off road sites and 2) general travel to visit the United States. Most of my travels will be 2-4 weeks solo with the wife on a few trips. She is not really into the RV'ing lifestyle.My off road toy will be a Honda Rincon (7 Ft) or Can AM Maverick (11 Ft) and maybe a KTM Enduro bike.My intentions all along have been to keep the TH foot print to a Min so I'm not always worried about where I'm going to park or dragging 38 Ft plus **** behind me.I have been looking hard at the Sundowner TH market and have come to the conclusion that to have what I want (or I think what I want) this will be a special order TH.I'm thinking a 10 FT living quarters package (10' floor + 8'bed over gooseneck) with a 12 Ft garage. This still puts me at 30 Ft overall but I don't see how I can do anything any smaller and still keep the forward livings quarters I want.Anyway, guess what I'm asking is when you guys and gals go out for your "off roading" trips do you find it difficult finding off road type RV sites that fit your rig? ThanksDennisMaybe this?http://www.irv2.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=7469&d=1293888100

jmtandem wrote:I would look at horse trailers. They come gooseneck, stout for off road use, front living quarters, and ten or so feet of floor toy carrying area is no issue. They are made so much better than most RV's, no rubber roof, no filon sides to delam, and stout axles and tires.I did look at those but all of them have swing out doors at the rear. I guess ramps could be added for toy loading and horse stalls removed. From a used market and $$ standpoint a used Sundowner "horse trailer" would be much easier to find than a used Sundowner Toy Hauler.I did a US wide search for used Sundowner Toy Haulers a while back and the market was maybe 1-2 total.

When does a TH become too big?? | Good Sam Community

JAC1982
Explorer
Jun 18, 2019
We've found our height is more prohibitive than our length (38'). Low hanging trees etc.
nayther
Explorer
Jun 14, 2019
Dennis58 wrote:
Wild Card wrote:
The axels are further back than a traditional camper where the axels are more centered. So the 34-35 your looking at is probably gonna back like a 38-40ft traditiona 5th wheel. My 42' was rediculous...which is why it went bye bye.

Interesting, never gave much thought to backing and position of wheels on the trailer.

Back several years ago I had a 18 ft car hauler that I could back up with not problem and put it wherever I wanted to. Borrowed a friends enclosed 10 ft trailer one day and was all over the place trying to back that thing up, I was going WTF.

ever try to back up a 3 rail bike trailer or a cement mixer? Nearly impossible without a LOT of practice.

I noticed a BIG difference when I went from my toy hauler to a conventional fifth wheel (both 30' overall). I live on a typical residential street and if there was someone parked across from my driveway it was JUST possible to get the toy hauler in the driveway. Now with the Wildcat I can get it in no problem. If you have a short bed truck look at the front cap and ask about turning radius when shopping. My Wildcat has a tapered front that allows me to go over 90 degrees without sliding the hitch back, don't need the slider anymore (only used it twice with the Toy Hauler but was much more careful than I need to be now).
Dennis58
Explorer
Jun 14, 2019
Wild Card wrote:
The axels are further back than a traditional camper where the axels are more centered. So the 34-35 your looking at is probably gonna back like a 38-40ft traditiona 5th wheel. My 42' was rediculous...which is why it went bye bye.

Interesting, never gave much thought to backing and position of wheels on the trailer.

Back several years ago I had a 18 ft car hauler that I could back up with not problem and put it wherever I wanted to. Borrowed a friends enclosed 10 ft trailer one day and was all over the place trying to back that thing up, I was going WTF.
Wild_Card
Explorer
Jun 13, 2019
Dennis58 wrote:
Wild Card wrote:
Look at Ocala Trailers. Call Mike and talk to him.

The one in my signature is gone. Sold and bought a Class A diesel. They are built tuff. However at 42ft with 30ft from pin to center of axels it was down right awnry to manipulate in a campground. 30-35ft would have been ok.

Ok so you did buy a Sundowner, I guess I missed that over the last few months on iRV2. So did you feel the build quality was worth the price? To get what I want I'm guessing a special order if I stay set on a Sundowner.

I will reach out to Mike at Ocala as I have looked at their website a few times.

Yep...i bought 1. Bought in November sold in May. Build quality is there, its built for hauling unlike a camper that barely holds its own weight. Its a car hauler/horse trailer 1st...if you catch my drift.

The axels are further back than a traditional camper where the axels are more centered. So the 34-35 your looking at is probably gonna back like a 38-40ft traditiona 5th wheel. My 42' was rediculous...which is why it went bye bye.

The 1786 is pretty cramped. Mine was a 2286. Had to do over I would look at there open models for sure.

They put the gen set ontop on many models, of course with any garage model you can have it speced to be in the garage area.

Its all custom build so the possibility are limited by the wallet, imagination and engineering. That with any race/horse hauler builds.
Dennis58
Explorer
Jun 13, 2019
Garage size requirements;

Can Am X3 (2 seat) - 11 Ft
or
Honda Rincon - 7 Ft

Plus a KTM 690 Enduro bike

For those of you who own and use your TH can that fit with misc. equip in a 14' garage???? I'm guessing I also need cabinets of some sort in the garage area.
lamopar
Explorer
Jun 13, 2019
I totally agree. You should have no problem and with the gooseneck you will have little problem getting backed into a site if needed.

Also you stated your other half is not into the RV thing. Depending on the unit you purchase and how nice it is can change that. With our king size bed and very nice amenities in the kitchen living room area my wife doesn't mind going with us. She enjoys the fact we can watch HULU, Netflix and Amazon on the road along with a large shower and having an onboard generator makes it nice for a quick stop using the microwave. Just a key note that there are many features you can get that make a huge difference. Ours has 150 gallon fresh water tank and 50 gallon for black and grey. We can go a while with no problem. Sure makes it nice.
Dennis58
Explorer
Jun 13, 2019
This Sundowner is along the lines of what I had in mind, although a little plain jane entry levelish. It could use a few added options but overall about the right size.

Sundowner 1786GM 34'
Dennis58
Explorer
Jun 13, 2019
lamopar wrote:
So I had to re-read your post to see your looking to see if size is a problem in sites. We have a 34' bumper pull and a Ram 3500 crew cab long bed so we are about 58' overall.

So a 34' bumper puts you about 38' ball to tail. I'm looking at a gooseneck TH in the 22-24' floor length plus 8' for forward bed or total nose to tail of about 32'.

That puts me about 30' pin to tail on a 2019 Chevy 3500 HD D/Max Dulley which I think would be just the right size to get in and out of most if not all camp sites I would be going to.
Dennis58
Explorer
Jun 13, 2019
Wild Card wrote:
Look at Ocala Trailers. Call Mike and talk to him.

The one in my signature is gone. Sold and bought a Class A diesel. They are built tuff. However at 42ft with 30ft from pin to center of axels it was down right awnry to manipulate in a campground. 30-35ft would have been ok.

Ok so you did buy a Sundowner, I guess I missed that over the last few months on iRV2. So did you feel the build quality was worth the price? To get what I want I'm guessing a special order if I stay set on a Sundowner.

I will reach out to Mike at Ocala as I have looked at their website a few times.
lamopar
Explorer
Jun 13, 2019
So I had to re-read your post to see your looking to see if size is a problem in sites. We have a 34' bumper pull and a Ram 3500 crew cab long bed so we are about 58' overall. I have traveled from Oregon to Washington DC, up in PA, Jersey and all over the NW with little problem locating a spot. Keep in mind most places you can hand the back of the trailer over back blocks in a camp site so you can get quite a bit more room.

Also if you book your sites in advance you can pick out where you like to camp and site size. In the west you can use BLM and NFS areas and camp for free in remote sites where size is definately not a problem.

I see you are in the south east so I would definately pay attention to the air conditioning on the rig. When it gets over 95 degrees mine has a hard time with the single unit but mine is an open unit so we cool/heat the entire unit.

Hope that helps to answer your question.

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